Stay With Me
by SamSammySamantha
Summary: Revised the prologue! Introducing Samantha Chambers, the only girl in the gang. How would that fateful weekend unfold if Chris's twin sister came along? Read to find out.
1. Not Quite A Prologue

Prologue

It's awful cold today. Chris would've wanted it to be warm...he always hated winter, no matter how much snow fell. It must've had something to do with school, because neither of us liked it and all of winter was based around school.

We were the Chambers kids. Samantha and Chris, the no-good, low-down hoods from _that_ family. Chris- the thief. Samantha- the explosive one. We completed each other, dammit. And now he's gone.

Oh yeah. That other guy who's technically related to me. Eyeball Chambers. That piece of shit never even came to the funeral.

Chris was killed. He stood in line to get me some lunch and he got killed. And I was just at his funeral. He always told me to write down what I felt so it didn't come out in explosions. I never listened till now.

That weekend, the one weekend out of the hundreds that have filled my life, completes me. It stands out as stark as it did when it happened.

I can remember it like someone's writing it out in front of me.


	2. All Because of Vern

Chapter One

The Gang and the Body

"Sammy, its Rockin' Robin! Sing it!" Chris Chambers exclaimed as the radio squawked out, "Up the ladder with another platter, Bobby Day with Rockin' Robin!"

Samantha Chambers, Chris's twin sister, grinned self-consciously. "I don't know...I don't really know this one..." Teddy Duchamp snorted in disgust and disbelief. "You know them all! Sing it!"

As the song played, Sammy began, in tune, "She rocks in the treetop all the day long, hoppin' and a-boppin' and-a singin' this song. All the little birds on Jaybird Street love to hear the robin goin' tweet tweet tweet-"

She broke off as the secret knock echoed. "Who knocks?" She asked playfully. It had to be Gordie since he was the only one who knew the secret knock who wasn't in the tree with us.

"Gordie, who else?" Gordie asked, pushing up the door after they had moved the make-shift card table.

Gordie's brother Dennis had died a few months back in April, and he had been different since then. Sammy hadn't exactly been herself Denny had been the closest thing to a father she ever had. but Gordie had fared the worst.

"Hey, how do you know a Frenchman's been in your backyard?" Sammy asked, smiling, breaking herself out of her own thoughts, over the top of her cards.

"Hey I'm French, okay?" Teddy Duchamp replied. Teddy was the stupidest, wildest guy I knew. He was always doing something stupid, something that'd get himself hurt. But he didn't care, he did it all for his dad, Sammy knew it.

Teddy's had basically fixed Teddy a career in Castle Rock, and maybe not even one here. He was never getting out of this town; everyone knew it was his dad who had nearly burnt Teddy's ear off. Teddy, Peckerwood Loony's son. It hurt him to hear that, I could see it in his eyes, even though he would never admit it.

Chris shot Gordie and Sammy a grin. "Your garbage cans are empty and your dog's pregnant." He laughed once, glanced at the three friends, and Sammy and Gordie laughed hard, even harder when they saw Teddy's indignant face.

"Didn't I just say I was French?" He asked, and Sammy replied, "Have you ever listened to us when we say we don't care?"

Teddy flipped her off and she stuck her tongue out at him. It was childish teasing, but what else was there to do?

"I knock!" Chris said, knocking once,

"Shit!" Teddy exclaimed, glancing at his cards.

"Twenty-nine," Chris gloated, laying his cards down.

"Twnety-two," Teddy echoed.

""Nineteen!" Sammy exclaimed with a frown, throwing the cards on the table to they scattered and fell to the boards, on floating down.

"Piss up a rope!" Gordie snapped, causing Chris and Sammy and even Teddy who was currently picking up the cards and glaring the one card that fell through.

"Gordie's out! Oh Gordie just bit the bag and stepped out the door!" Teddy shouted gleefully as he came up with the lone card, which had been stuck between two branches.

"Just deal, Teddy." Sammy said impatiently at the same time as Chris said "Come on man, deal."

Teddy dealt the cards, and knocked. "I knock."

"You four-eyed pile of shit!" Chris yelled, throwing his cards down in much the same fashion as Sammy.

"A pile of shit has a thousand eyes!" Teddy replied, and looked absolutely flabbergasted when Sammy and Chris burst into laughter.

"What? What's so funny? Come on, I've got thirty, what have you got?" He asked, his eyes wide with a type of confusion.

"Sixteen, same as Sammy." Chris replied.

Chris and Sammy, twins, four minutes apart, looked completely different. Sammy was average height but petite, fragile looking. Chris, two inches taller than Sammy, was tough, like nothing could touch him. The only thing that tied them together was their ratty, dirty clothes and that haunted look in there eyes, like they had seen too much too young.

Sammy and Teddy both screeched, "What?" But Teddy screeched because Vern and knocked extremely loudly for what could've been the sixth time for all of what the three could have known. Sammy had screeched because Chris had known what she had, which was weird but he had been doing that more lately.

"That's not the secret knock!" Gordie sing-songed, laughing silently with the other three when Vern whined, "I forget the secret knock, let me in!"

Chris, Teddy, Gordie, and Sammy all sighed, "Vern," at the same time. Sammy and Teddy moved the table over just enough to Vern could come through while he exclaimed "Oh man, you guys are not gonna believe this. This is so boss. Oh man, wait'll you hear this, wait'll you hear this. You won't believe it. It's unbelievable. Let me catch my breath. I ran all the way from my house."

Sammy began, "I ran all the way home..." And the boys chimed in "Just to say I'm sorry...sorry ohhh."

"Come on, guys, listen to me. Guys, come on! Okay, forget it. I'll tell you nothing."

"Alright, guys, alright. What is it, man?" Chris interjected, blowing smoke from in front of his face. Sammy coughed, for real at first then dramatically.

"Jesus, girl, you don't need to pretend you don't smoke! I see that butt in your hand!" Teddy cried, pulling the butt out of Sammy's hand and holding it up as evidence.

"I don't smoke as much as you do!" Sammy shot back, and Teddy replied, "Probably because there's not enough at your house and you run out!"

"Guys listen you won't believe this, sincerely." Vern said, having got his breath back. "I ran-"

Again, Sammy began, "I ran all the way home..." And the boys chimed in "Just to say I'm sorry...sorry ohhh."

"Screw you guys!" Vern exclaimed with a hurt look.

Sammy shushed the group with a swiping motion at her throat and Chris asked, "What is it?" With a quick drag on his cigarette.

"Can you guys camp out tonight? I mean if you tell your folks, we're gonna tent in my backfield?" Vern asked, and everyone's attention was peaked.

Lying about tenting out always meant something illegal or at least less then completely legal, and was admired by those who chose not to.

"Yeah." Teddy and Gordie replied, one right after the other.

"Well, dad's kind of on a meant streak..." Sammy trailed off and Chris added, "He's been drinking a lot lately..."

"You've got to guys, sincerely." Vern added beseechingly. "You can, right Gordie?"

"Yeah, probably." He replied absentmindedly, picking up the cards he had just been dealt.

"So what are you pissin' an' moanin' about Vern?" Teddy asked snidely, frowning slightly at his cards.

"I knock." Chris said, grinning at Sammy who returned it.

"What? What! You liar, you ain't got no pat-hand. You didn't deal yourself no pat-hand!" Teddy exclaimed, glaring at Chris when he said confidently, "Make your draw, shit-heap."

Vern chose this time to blurt out, "You guys wanna see a dead body?"

"Ray Brower?" Sammy asked, astounded.

"The kid who got ran over by the train?" Teddy asked.

"Where is he? How'd you find out?" Chris asked, being the sensible one.

--------

How was that? Okay? Fantastic? What can I do to make it better? Oh and I'm contemplating changing the POV to solely Sammy's, but what do you guys think I should do? Are they IC as much as possible?

Thank you for reading this far...and what's two more seconds to review? It'll make me feel warm and fuzzy inside...


	3. The Fun Begins

**Chapter Two**

**The Fun Begins**

**Part 1- Smoke and Corpses**

Vern began his harrowing tale with "Well, I was under the porch digging, you know..."

They did know. Vern had buried a mason jar of pennies beneath his porch, intending on using the map he drew out to find them when he was hard up for money.

One day his mom took it upon herself to clean it out Sammy would've too...it looked like a pig sty. Smelt like one too, come to think of it. and threw out loose papers.

That map was one of them. Everyday for a couple hours he'd crawl under his porch and dig. And dig, and dig. It looked like the porch was infested with moles, but it wasn't.

He buried it at the beginning of the school year...and was still looking. It was funny, in a way, but bitter. And sad.

Sammy tuned back in, hearing Teddy exclaim, "Brower kid was found by those shit-heads?"

"The Brower kid was under your porch?" She cried, horrified.

Gordie, Chris, Teddy and Vern stared at her. She stared back, her eyes still wide with unmistakable horror.

Finally, Chris sighed exasperatedly. "No Sam, Vern was under the porch, diggin', you know, an' heard Charley and Billy talkin' 'bout seein' the Brower kid," Chris paused, taking a breath. His words were getting cut off because he couldn't breathe.

"Sammy, lay off the smoke!" Gordie cried, waving it away from his face.

Sammy was smoking up the place, but she couldn't help it. She was probably the most addicted, and could smoke 15 a day on her worst days. It had been Mr. Chambers himself who got her into it, too. Christmas Day, two years ago, cigarette in hand, holiday sherry in the other-

"_Wanna smoke, Samantha Ann?!" The old man had bellowed, reeking of God knows what. Sammy was stuck between the wall and her father._

"_No Dad. I'm fine...I don't smoke," She had spat in his face, trying not to scream, trying to put out the butt in his mouth. Her dad was closer with the butt in his hand everytime._

_And when it happened, she wasn't surprised. Father dearest shoved the butt in her mouth and mouth pinched her nose. She breathed it in when she couldn't hold her breath any longer, and now Chris and she decide that's where it started._

**Chris started because he didn't want Sammy to be alone.**

"Oh." Sammy was quiet as she put the cigarette out. "Sorry guys."

The gang took a collective, appreciative breath and Vern asked, "So guys...you can come?"

"Where are we going?" Sammy asked. She had missed it during her recollections.

"To see a dead kid's body." Teddy replied in his off-hand, blunt and sometimes rude way.

"Ray?" Sammy asked. Vern and Chris nodded in confirmation. "Well, this'll be fun. How're we gonna get there?"

"Vern here said he's out at the Back Harlow Road." Chris replied, cleaning the cards up into a pile and rolling them into his left sleeve.

Sammy reached over and helped him out. "You're gonna get caught with those." She cautioned him for about the 100th time.

"It ain't my fault your shirts don't have sleeves!" Chris shot back. Sammy glanced down and grinned.

"This sleeve's a little short too, don't you think?" She teased, pulling at it. The shirt was fine, in all actuality. It was just a thing her and Chris went through at least once a week, when Sammy's shirt shrank for...let's just say hormone reasons.

"Anyway, guys, Back Harlow Road. Where is it?" Gordie asked sensibly, his face less enthusiastic than the others.

**Part 2**

**Cajoling and Plans**

"I know the Back Harlow Road! It comes to a dead end by the Royal River. The train tracks are right there! Me and my dad used to fish for cossies out there!" Teddy exclaimed, a familiar glint in his eyes at the prospect of an adventure. Or, rather, to him, a mission of sorts.

"Glory, Vern! If they'd known you were there," Sammy's sentence was easily finished by Chris, "Under the porch they would have killed you."

And then there was Gordie in his skeptical calm, "Could he have gotten all the way from Chamberlain to Harlow? It's really far!"

"Sure! He could have started walking on the tracks down that way." Chris assured him, now reclining against the side of the tree-house.

Teddy looked thoughtful, and then said, "Yeah...yeah. Right. Then when the train came along," He paused for dramatic effect, then smacked his hands together as he said, "El smacko!"

"You're so heartless." Sammy said absentmindedly, and then added, "If we find him, we'd for sure be in the paper. Editorials and everything, ya know?"

Teddy gazed at her mock-admirably and said, "Yeah! We'd even be on TV!"

"Sure!" Chris exclaimed, followed shortly by Vern's cautious, "I don't know guys. Billy'll know how I found out..."

Gordie, who had by now figured out a foolproof plan, was slowly joining in the excitement, "He's not gonna care. 'Cause it's gonna be us guys, well, Sammy too, who find him. Not Billy and Charley Hogan in a boosted car. They'll probably pin a medal on ya, Vern."

Vern still looked cautious but he asked, "What'll we tell our folks?"

At this Teddy, Sammy, and Chris fell silent, each wondering what exactly to tell them. They looked up however when Gordie exclaimed his plan.

"Exactly what you said. We all tell our folks we're tenting out on your backfield. You tell your folks you're sleeping over Teddy's. Then we'll say we're going out to the drag-races the next day... until dinner tomorrow night."

A quick glance between the twins showed that they thought the same. "That's a plan and a half!" Chris said, tapping his fingers against the card table.

Sammy glanced at Teddy, both of them sharing a glance of excitement at the impending adventure. Sammy was about to say how they needed to make sure to bring some food, when Vern exclaimed:

"But if we do find the kid's body over in South Harlow they'll know we didn't go to the drag-races! We'll get hided!"

Sammy shook her head, understanding where he was coming from, but annoyed that he had missed the big picture. "Vern," She began, saying his name in a way not un-like Teddy, "People won't even think about wondering how we found the body because...well, because..." She trailed off, looking at Gordie, Chris, or Teddy to back her up.

Chris and Gordie looked at her bemusedly and shrugged, simply not caring whether Vern got that straight or not; the only thing they cared was if he went with them.

"Nobody would care 'cause everybody's gonna be so jazzed about what we found it's not gonna make a difference!" Teddy exclaimed, momentarily brilliant.

"Yeah!" Sammy cried, leaning forward excitedly, adjusting the front of her shirt.

"Dad'd hide me and Sammy anyway, but hell, that's worth a hiding!" Chris added, grinning now, formulating plans in his head.

"Shit yeah!" Sammy agreed at the same time Teddy also said it. Who knows why he said it though.

"So let's do it." Chris said, deciding for the group. "What d'you say?"

The adventurous trio aka Chris, Sammy, and Teddy, turned to Gordie. He sighed, then simply said, with a trace of a daring smile, "Alright."

As one, the four teens turned to Vern, who still looked cautious and rather confused. After a few seconds of silence from the boy, Sammy groaned.

"Don't you _dare_ make me kiss you," She said, teasing.

Vern glared at Sammy, saying, "I don't know..." with the cautiousness of an old man about to not use suspenders for the first day of his life.

Teddy sighed with disgust and exasperation, "Come **on** Verno!"

Chris, coaxing, "Vern!"

And Teddy, demanding, "Vern!"

Sammy was officially pissed. "Vern. Come ON," She paused to put out her cigarette before adding, at the same time as Chris and teddy, "Come on, Verno!"

Finally, after the massive amounts of cajoling, Vern reluctantly agreed, "Alright."

Sammy whooped out an "All right!" And Chris added his own "Very cool!"

Gordie joined in with an "All right Verno!"

Teddy added his own "Very very cool!" and joined in with Sammy as she said, "Too cool!"

Gordie stood, pushing the table aside. "I need to get my stuff...but I guess we can all meet back here, right?"

The four others exchanged a quick look, then Chris nodded. "Yeah man, meet here."

Gordie nodded, then disappeared down the ladder.

"I guess I should go too, but I'll be here quick." Teddy said, looking at the remaining three.

Before Teddy could leave or anyone could even say anything, Vern said, "Well I'll walk with you, I mean seriously, I don't wanna run into the Cobras alone."

Teddy half-shrugged, bring his shoulder up to meet his ear. "Fine by me." With a final glance at Chris and Sammy, he too went through the door.

"Are you coming home, Sammy?" Chris asked, halfway out.

"I need to." Sammy stated simply, then adding, "But no. Teddy'll have some stuff I can wear...I hope."

"Yeah, okay. Watch his hands." He offered her a cheeky grin, then left too, knowing Sammy'd leave when she felt like it.

Sammy watched Chris walk away, and climbed out, pulling the table over the top.

She jumped the remainder of the ladder steps, and went off to find Teddy.


	4. MiniAdventures

Chapter Three

Mini-Adventures

Part One- The Walk

"Duchamp!" Sammy called, jogging between trees. She could see Teddy up ahead, working through the dense brush with almost catatonic concentration. "Teddy!" Sammy bellowed, hurdling a fallen tree, groaning when the trees and bushes grew thicker.

Slipping through three tress bunched together instead of going around them had given Sammy an edge, and she soon caught up enough for her to yell, "Hey, boy!"

Teddy stopped abruptly, far quicker than Sammy had anticipated. In mid-leap over a tree, she landed gracefully, but mud beneath her feet gave way and she slipped, falling on top of Teddy who, of course, went toppling into the mud as well.

Groaning for the second time since she stated running, Sammy rolled of him, clutching her upper arm. "Shit."

"Whoa now, you're not allowed to be hurt." Teddy complained, leaning over her, "Chris'll have my head."

Sammy glared. "That's all you care about?" She asked, sitting up, forcing Teddy to sit on his knees in front of her. She was still holding her arm when she stood, using only her legs.

"It's what I care _most_ about." Teddy replied, a guilty but goofy smile on his face as he glanced at her.

Sammy couldn't be mad at him for long, and returned the smile as she said, "Do you have stuff I can wear?"

Teddy though about this, poking her towards a break in the trees, "Yea, I guess I do. Only one pack though." He was referring to the bag that consisted of a small cot and clothes he kept fresh and clean under his bed, "I can stick a shirt for you in there." His tone was exasperated, but Sammy knew better, he didn't really mind, as close friends as they were.

They were halfway to Teddy's, all that was left was the dusty street he lived at the end of.

They has been quiet for a few minutes before a bored Sammy blurted out, tone and beat perfect, "Dum, dum, dum, dum, dum, de, doobe, dum..." She trailed off, waiting on Teddy for the next part.

Teddy glanced at her, then looked forward again, singing, "Love, love me darlin', come and go with me, Please don't send me way beyond the sea..."

The two finished the song as they reached Teddy's porch, Sammy going in first.

Rarely did they go in and out without anything happening, but today his place was empty.

Sammy raided the fridge, bringing Teddy up a bagel. "What about that one?" Sammy asked, pointing at a shirt that looked as if it had been discarded in the corner for a couple years.

"It looks little," Sammy said as she picked it up after putting the bagel in Teddy's mouth.

"I think I wore that three years ago," Teddy mumbled, but it sounded liked, "Oi sthink oi wore dat stree yearth ago."

Sammy, halfway through putting the new shirt on She had turned to face the wall., smiled to herself, impatient Teddy, never waiting to do anything that could be done then. It'd get him killed one day, she knew it.

"All right, ready?" Sammy asked brightly when she turned around. Teddy tossed her a worn-out pillow, carrying the pack himself. He chuckled, looking at the base of her neck.

"What?" Sammy asked, touching it. Her tag was out. That meant: "It's on backwards and inside-out," Sammy noted, suppressing laughter. "Hold on."

She retreated to her corner, pulling it off and fixing it. Coming back to the doorway of Teddy's room, she glared at him while her eyes danced with laughter. "Don't laugh." She told him, hands in her pockets.

Teddy shook his head, visibly swallowing laughter. As they exited the house, Sammy stood on her tiptoes, craning her neck to see two figures walking quickly side by side. "Chris and Gordie?" Sammy mused.

Part Two- Deal With It

"Sammy! Don't point that at Teddy!" Gordie cried, stepping between Sammy and Teddy.

Teddy had snuck up behind her, slid his arms around her waist, and pulled her tightly close. "Don't shoot," He had whispered.

Sammy, of course, had spun around so fast it broke his hold on her, pointing the gun dead on at his nose. "I'll shoot your glasses off," She had threatened with a smirk after pushing Gordie out of the way, "It's loaded."

Teddy scoffed, "That's bullshit." He knocked the barrel away from his face, the gun pointing skyward.

Sammy glared, "Bullshit this!!" And shot it off, the kick staggering her back a couple steps.

The group fell silent for a few seconds until Sammy said, "Hey, I could've shot his face instead," with a half ashamed, half amused look on her face.

"Yea, it sure doesn't need any assistance in that department!" Chris laughed, smacking Teddy in the back.

Teddy, who had been staring at Sammy like he had never seen her before, cracked a grin but said nothing.

"What do we need a pistol for anyway?" Vern asked, whining.

"It's spooky sleeping out at night in the woods. We might see a bear," Chris replied smartly, silently laughing.

"Or a garbage can," Gordie cracked, and Teddy and Sammy giggled or chuckled, in Teddy's case behind Vern.

Vern, trying to protect his masculinity, said, "I brought a comb."

Sammy, nodded appreciatively, opened her mouth to say thanks when Chris interjected, "What do we need a comb for?" As he rubbed his hands on his hair.

"Well, if we get on TV we wanna look good, don't we?" Vern pointed out.

Sammy snorted. "If I was on TV, people would be enamored by my natural good looks," She paused, then added, "What the fuck does enamored mean?"

The group burst into collective laughter, Teddy laughing the hardest and longest, Gordie stopping first to say, "That's a lot of good thinking, Vern."

Vern looked at him, surprised. "Thanks!" He said with a smile and a nod.

Teddy feigned an uppercut towards Vern, who flinched. Sammy clapped, grinning as she said, "Two for flinching! Two for flinching!" Teddy punched him twice after Sammy had stopped jumping.

"Ow!" Vern cried, rubbing his arm.

"Want me to kiss it, make it better?" Sammy asked, cringing, catching Teddy's eye and smiling.

"It's not that bad," Vern consented.

"How far d'you think it's gonna be?" Teddy asked, absentmindedly trying to smack Sammy who seemed to be trying to steal his canteen.

"If we follow the tracks all the way into Harlow it might be about 20 miles. Somewhere about there, right Gordie?" Chris asked, pushing an indignant Sammy away from Teddy. "Jesus Christ, why are you so thirsty?" he complained when she glared at him.

Sammy, who hadn't said a word, sighed, "Maybe it's because it's hot out here?" Her voice was purposefully slow, like she was explaining algebra to a four year old.

"Girls, girls, relax," Gordie said, resting a calming hand on Chris and Sammy, adding, "Might even be 30 miles."

"Gee...maybe we should just hitchhike," Vern suggested and complained at the same time.

Teddy snorted in disgust, Sammy hiding a smile when he said, "That's pussy!" With indignance, like it was insulting him.

"Hey, it's a long way," Vern began, getting cut off by an exasperated Sammy, "Jesus Vern, have you ever thought of just, I don't know, maybe I'm crazy, **dealing** with it?" She ended this with a gusty sigh.

"But seriously guys," Vern began, only to be interrupted again, this time by Teddy, "Did your mother ever have any kids that lived?"

Sammy cackled behind her hand, grinning at Teddy when he looked back at her.

The group was split into two groups- Chris and Gordie up ahead, and Teddy, Vern, and Sammy a few feet back.

_Chris and Gordie're probably having actual conversations about life-changing events, _Sammy thought.

"Hey, thanks, "Sammy said, taking Teddy's canteen which he had placed in her hands, drinking lightly and giving it back, "I think you might have to fill up soon."

"What?" Teddy asked, attempting to get a drink himself, only to find it empty, "Shit," He shot Sammy a wry smile which she returned.

Vern, confused, finally asked, "What d'you mean?"

His question sent Teddy and Sammy into almost alarming hysterics.

Part Three- Railroads and Babysitters

If anyone, let's say a train conductor, were to look ahead on the tracks, he'd see a sight that only 5 special people could come up with.

A tough guy, clearly the ring leader, in front of the line of friends. Next in line was clearly his best friend, softer and more vulnerable looking.

After came a girl who remarkably resembled the ringleader, and behind her a boy with glasses and dark hair, if you looked closer you'd see one of his ears were less than normal.

Behind them all a few paces back, was a boy who looked jovial enough, tired but jovial. He sang along with the group as they belted out, "Have Gun, Will Travel reads the card of a man! A knight without armor in a savage land! His fast gun-for-hire heeds the calling wind. A soldier of fortune he's a man called Paladin! "

The two in front, who we all know as Chris and Gordie, broke off then, as well as the boy who was behind them all, who we also know: Vern.

Only the boy and the girl in the middle finished, a girl and a boy we know as Sammy and Teddy. They finished, "Paladin, Paladin, where do you roam? Paladin, Paladin, far, far from home."

Sammy cleared her throat as she and Teddy ended, licking her lips, thirsty. She sighed and looked down the line of tracks, wondering aloud, "Where can we fill up?"

Gordie, after standing up from testing for train vibrations, replied, "We could fill up at the junkyard. My dad said it's a safe well."

Vern shook his head, semi-distressed, "Not if Chopper's there."

"If Chopper's there we'll send you in," Chris said with that cheeky grin of his.

Sammy laughed, and straightened from where she too had checked the tracks, "That's cutting into Vern's masculinity a little, isn't it?"

Vern glared at her, and Sammy returned the glare with sticking her tongue out at him.

"Hey, I'm kind of hungry!" Vern announced, stopping in his tracks, on the tracks. Ha.

"Oh shit! Did anybody bring anything?" Teddy asked, stopping as well.

Chris shrugged, "Not me. Gordie?"

"Well, this is great. What are we supposed to do, eat our feet?" Teddy asked in his ever present sarcasm.

"For the record, I didn't bring anything either," Sammy supplied with a shrug.

"D'you mean, you didn't bring anything either?" Chris asked Teddy, referring to his earlier exclamation.

"Oh shit, this wasn't my idea. It was Vern's idea. Why didn't you bring something?" Teddy complained, turning the guilt onto Vern.

"What'm I supposed to do, think of everything? I brought the comb!" Vern exclaimed, indignant.

"Oh great, you brought a comb. What d'you need a comb for if you don't even have any hair?" Teddy retorted, agitated and agitating everyone else.

"I brought it for you guys!" Vern shot back, visibly distressed.

"Okay. Now is when someone takes charge before those two rip each other's heads off," Sammy said, settling onto the railroad tracks.

"Hey, hey, hey, hey! Let's see how much money we've got," Gordie said, taking charge. He sat down on the tracks across from Sammy, and Vern and Chris sat on either side of them. Teddy sat himself between Vern and Sammy.

"Teddy, Eyeball took my money," Sammy whispered while the others counted.

Teddy rolled his eyes, but gave her 30 cents, placing it in her hands when the other three looked back down for a second.

Gordie inhaled and said, "Yeah. I got a dollar two. Sixty-eight cents from Chris. Thirty cents from Teddy. Thirty cents from Sammy," This raised eyebrows from Chris but Gordie went on, "Seven cents, Vern?"

Sammy, who had been looking behind for a train, turned to face Vern, glaring when she said, "How many cents, Gordie? How many cents does Vern have?"

Vern, who had quickly learned how to deflect Sammy's outbursts, quickly but nonchalantly said, "Haven't found my pennies yet."

Gordie briefly considered their funds and said, "Well, two-thirty-seven's not bad. Quidachioluo's is at the end of the little road that goes by the junkyard. I think we can get some stuff there."

Chris, who had yet to look up from the tracks since he was thinking, said, "Train's coming," At the exact same time as Sammy, who had been looking. They shared goofy smiles, like they had some twin secret.

Sammy leaped off the tracks, Teddy's pillow clutched tightly in front of her. She hit the ground and rolled, bouncing up with a smile. She watched as Vern cried, "Geronimo!" and attempted a leap and roll, attempted being the key word. Chris and Gordie came off the tracks sensibly, talking something over.

Sammy had her eyes trained on Teddy, and she dropped the pillow. "Teddy? Come on, the train's coming."

The train kept coming, and Teddy looked her square in the eye when he said, "Train dodge. Dig it." Phrasing the last sentence as an almost question.

Sammy shook her head. "Teddy, get down, don't try it," She pleaded.

"No. Uh-uh. I'm gonna dodge it." Teddy said, tossing Sammy his pack.

"Come on, Teddy-man. Get off the tracks you're crazy," Chris said, standing next to Sammy, arm around her now shaking shoulders.

"Get off the tracks Teddy, you'll get killed!" Sammy cried, pushing Chris's arm away, now a couple steps away from the tracks herself.

"Get the hell off the tracks, Teddy! You wanna get yourself killed?" Chris yelled, shoving Sammy back behind him as the train became dangerously close.

Teddy talked to Chris, but he looked past his head and down, where Sammy had landed on the ground after Chris shoved her, "Just like the beach in Normandy." He imitated a machine gun, something Sammy usually liked to watch but not right now.

"Teddy! Get off the tracks!" Sammy cried, scared tears breaking loose right as Chris lunged at Teddy, wrestling him off the tracks.

Sammy turned her head and swiped angrily at her face, ashamed and bewildered at her sudden fright. She hadn't ever been scared if Chris was nearby, why was she scared now? Why was she scared for _Teddy_

Sammy turned around, daring anyone to ask her anything with her glares. All four boys avoiding her glance, especially Teddy, who had yet to get up.

"Let's go guys," Sammy said, picking up the pillow and simply walking off down the tracks, her anger settling, but the embarrassment kept her walking.

Vern shot an uneasy look at Chris before walking off after Sammy, and Gordie followed after with a shrug. Chris was the last, looking at Teddy who was patting the grass around him for his coke-bottle glasses.

The group of four became three as Sammy's embarrassment faded away altogether, and what was left was shame.

Shame for crying. Shame for leaving Teddy. Shame for not realizing these things before now.

_No-one ever said my emotions made sense_, She reconciled herself, lifting her eyes from the railroad ties just in time to step to the side and stand by Teddy before they collided.

"Don't need no babysitter," He muttered, looking ahead at the rest of the group.

Sammy shook her head, "Do too. Skin it?"

Teddy looked her in the eyes, already a couple inches taller than her. He skinned it, but had to add, "Could have dodged it," Before sprinting ahead to the other group, leaving Sammy behind until she, too, jogged ahead to walk with the rest of the group.


	5. Chopper's Junkyard

Chapter Four

Chopper's Junkyard

"Ah, shit. My shoe," Sammy muttered as she peaked the rickety iron fence. She perched at the top, "Hey, I need my shoe, bring it over, okay Teddy?"

Teddy imitated a machine-gun, tossed the pack over the fence which Sammy dodged, and clambered up, Sammy's shoe in his pocket. When he reached the top, he yelled, "Mission Shoe Recovery accomplished!"

Sammy crossed her arms, cocking her head. "When you fall and break your legs and Chopper comes and eats your balls, I will laugh."

The junkman, Milo Pressman, had a dog named Chopper. He was the most feared dog, and had almost never been seen except three of four times. Rumors said he had been trained to sic trespassers, and to sic special parts of the body.

For example- earlier in the year, Sammy and Chris had been out for the weekend when they thought their father was going to be drinking a lot. They spent the night in the junkyard, and lo and behold, Chopper came out at dawn.

"Chopper, sic balls!" Pressman had cried, and Sammy, midway up the fence, scrambled faster, simply dropping from the top to the bottom, landing and rolling naturally.

Chris on the other hand, was too scared to fall and roll naturally. He lunged up the fence in a couple seconds, slipping over the top headfirst.

He reacted quickly, flipping himself feet first, but still landed hard. He ran the instant he had ground under his feet though, not stopping till they reached railroad tracks when he tumbled down the embankment, clutching his feet.

No lasting damage, but oh did Chris detest that junkyard.

Teddy jumped off the fence a feet off the ground, handing Sammy her worn-in Converse, the high-top snipped off that one just like her other one.

"The last time you jumped off something, it was more like a fall," Sammy noted, grinning when Vern added, "Yeah, the time when you fell out of the tree and Chris caught you!"

Teddy ignored this embarrassing memory by imitating a machine-gun and charging forward, dragging Sammy by her forearm, yelling, "Move it out men! Move it out!"

Sammy moved it out, almost against her will, eventually pulling her arm out of Teddy's grasp so she could run on her own.

Soon there was a crash, a squeal, and muffled yelp, and lots of dust.

When Vern came about the front of a heap of cars, he was faintly amused. There was Teddy, flat out on the ground. There was a metal lean-to covered in rust under which the impromptu wrestling match was taking place. There was Sammy, straddling Teddy, trying to wrestle her pillow back.

"That's mine, you let me have it, I've been carrying it _all day_ I don't care if you're tired- I- want- it- back!" Sammy cried, tugging on the pillow with all her might, digging her heels into the ground for more leverage.

"It's not yours, Samantha!" Teddy grunted, pulling, fighting with her just for the sake of it.

"It _is_ mine since I've been carrying it _all day_ give it BACK!" Sammy cried with a final tug, flopping off of Teddy into the now flying dirt and dust, clenching her cramped fingers.

"Well. You won, Corporal Duchamp. Mission accomplished," She noted dully, settling herself into the Indian-style position, leaning against whatever the metal thing was that had become the wall of the lean-to.

"Don't I always?" Teddy asked, gulping water out of his newly-filled canteen. He pegged her with the pillow, a rare act of Teddy-kindness.

Sammy caught the pillow, offering a small smile, suddenly worried she smiled too much, was all over him too often.

She then realized...what does it matter? Nothing's changed.

And yet...something had.

Something...un-definable. Something...indefinite. It was the first-day-of-school butterflies that erupted in her stomach when she heard him bellow out Paladin's song, or when she saw him and had to resist the urge to call his name, wave to him, hug him.

Yea, that was it. She craved being with him. Instead of it being that they had the same humor and laughed at things others didn't being the reason she hung out with him...it was the fact that he had the funny way of making her feel special.

In the midst of her reverie, the entire gang had collectively sat under the tarp, and was in mid-conversation.

It struck Chris how they accepted Sammy's random little daydreams, how they rarely noticed them. He dismissed this thought quickly, tuning back into the conversation.

"They are, aren't they?" was the first thing Sammy heard, and she instinctively knew what they were talking about, "Guys. Mine are bigger than Annette's," She stated flatly, knowing that that simple sentence would block any more of those conversations for the night.

The gang hushed, each boy glancing everywhere but at Sammy, until Teddy spat at Vern.

Then the group erupted into laughter as Vern swiped at the spit on his face, whining, "Great, spit at the fat kid. Real nice," His stomach growled, "What time is it, Gordie?"

"Um...it's a quarter after one," Gordie replied.

"Dammit, I'm hungry," Sammy complained as if she had just noticed it.

"We better go get the food. The junkyard opens at three. Chopper will be here," Vern added, staring cautiously at Chopper's usual pathway.

Chris groaned, "Sic balls!" As he grabbed at his crotch.

"You go," Teddy said, nodding to Vern. "You can pick us up on the way back."

"I'm not going alone. We should all go," Vern whined, clearly distressed.

"I'm staying right here," Teddy said, patting the ground beside him as Sammy said, "I am not moving from this spot," As she patted the ground beside her, patting Teddy's hand. She jerked it away, covering up the odd gesture by rubbing her hand on her jeans, the n_asty junkyard dust_ motion the boys had come to recognize.

"I'm not going," Gordie said simply.

"Sammy won't let me go," Chris said. Gordie added right after, "Odd man. We'll flip for it."

"Yea, that means Sammy's not going anywhere," Teddy replied, adding, "She wouldn't make it."

Sammy smacked upside the head, hard. "I'd last longer than you."

Teddy mimicked her as he took the dime he was offered.

"Okay, odd man goes?" Gordie asked.

"That's you Gordie, odd as a cod!" Teddy crowed, laughing in typical Teddy fashion.

Sammy smacked Teddy in the chest with the back of her hand, letting her nails hit first. "Shall we flip, boys?"

The gang flipped, Teddy grumbling probable curses under his breath.

"Four tails! Oh Jesus, man, that's a goocher!" Vern cried.

"No Vern, that's bullshit," Sammy corrected pleasantly, with the air of one explaining addition to a four year old.

"No man, a goocher. That's really bad. You remember when Clint Bracken and those guys got wiped out on Weed Hill in Durham? Billy told me they were flipping for beers. An' they came up a goocher just before they got into the car. And bang! They all got totaled! I don't like this. Sincerely," Vern simpered.

"Verno! Nobody believes in that crap about moons and goochers! It's baby stuff! Now come on. Gonna flip or not?" Teddy griped, his already flipped coin hidden behind his palm.

"Come on, Vern, we don't have all day," Chris cajoled; he had already flipped his coin as well.

With a gusty sigh Vern flipped his own coin as well, then as one each of the gang revealed their coin side.

"You lose, Gordie! Gordie loses! Oh Gordie just screwed the pooch!" Teddy cried, flicking the coin into the air and watching it settle into the dust beside Gordie.

As Gordie rose to his feet he turned and asked, the coins clutched in his hand, "Does the word retarded mean anything to you?"

Teddy just cackled the insult off, adding, "Gordie, go get the provisions you morphodite!"

"Don't call me any of your pet names," Gordie retorted, the faintest trace of real agitation crossing his face. Sammy saw this and hoped to God Teddy did as well; it'd do no good to get Gordie riled up.

Teddy let Sammy down despairingly however when he retaliated, "What a wet end you are, Lachance!"

Sammy downright laughed at that, clapping a hand over her mouth before, she hoped, Gordie noticed.

Gordie did notice however, and floundered on what to say for a moment before settling on a simple but malicious, "Shut up!"

The group unanimously broke into a favorite chant: "I don't shut up, I grow up, and when I look at you, I throw up." They then continued with various gagging sounds and gestures, Sammy the first to stop, Teddy the last.

"Then your mother goes around and licks it up," Gordie replied smoothly, turning on his heel and walking off, leaving the cat-calling gang behind him.

"I'm thinking we need some new insults," Sammy declared, throwing herself onto the dust, looking up at the rusty metal of the lean-to.

"And what do you propose, Sam?" Chris asked absently, dealing out cards, flicking Sammy's onto her stomach so she sat back up and gathered them into her hand.

"Oh, I don't know..." Sammy replied, frowning at her cards, "Why don't one of you come up with one this time?"

Teddy grunted in what could have been misplaced indignation, and then fanned out his cards, knocking. "I knock. And why do we need new insults? I like these just fine."

Sammy opened her mouth to argue, and Vern jumped in, trying to cool the argument before it began.

Chris added fuel to the fire, saying Teddy only wanted to stick with the old ones because it took him forever to remember them, and the gang was off, arguing pleasantly but so into the debate they didn't hear Pressman slam open and slam close the door to the junkyard office.

They did, however, quiet when a chain rattled, and you could anxious whimpering from the other side of the lean-to.

Chris's grew to encompass most of his face, and Sammy hissed out, "Chopper!"

Teddy gathered up his pack and threw his cards at Chris, snatching up his or Sammy's pillow and Sammy's hand at the same time and they scrambled off, leaving Vern in their dust and Chris following after, the cards clutched in his hand.

"Who's out there? Chopper, sic 'em! Sic 'em boy!" Milo Pressman's voice echoed across the yard as Teddy and Sammy reached fence, Teddy launching the pack and pillow across the fence, starting up just behind Sammy.

Chris and Vern were matched stride for stride, Chris urging Vern on with quick, clipped words like, "Vern, let's GO. Hurry! Chopper's COMING!"

Chris threw himself at the fence, fancying he could hear Chopper just behind him, panting, panting, panting.

Vern panted his way up the fence, but hung at the top, too scared to lower himself the rest of the way down.

Then he saw Gordie.

"Run, Gordie, run!" The group screamed variations of this phrase repeatedly, not even noticing when Vern dropped to the ground and popped back up, joining in.

Gordie's eyes were huge, and as he ran his yells sounded to Sammy like the hounds of Hell were after him; which they sort of were, in a way.

Gordie scrambled up the fence in much the same way Vern had, throwing himself over the fence and turning around to face...Chopper.

The group positively _howled_ with laughter.

Chopper, the dog that was more like a mythical beast to Castle Rock, was a mutt. A mutt that barely came to Sammy's hip, a mutt that pressed its attention deprived hide against the fence and whimpered, flopping into the dirt with an expression so comical it shut the group up from their laughter and turned on the insults.

Well, Teddy turned on the insults, Sammy tried to pet the dog, Gordie and Vern tried to catch their breath, and Chris wondered if Sammy had lost her mind, trying to pet Chopper.

"Come on, Choppy! Kiss my ass, Choppy! Kiss my ass! Come on bite shit! Come on, Choppy, sic balls, Choppy!" Teddy crowed gloriously, pressing his butt against the fence. Sammy backed off, her mouth frowning but her eyes dancing with laughter.

But her eyes froze over when Milo arrived at the fence, dirty, sweaty, _fat_ Milo Pressman, the junkman. "Hey you kids! Stop teasing that dog! You hear me? Stop it! Sonny, I'll beat your ass teasing my dog like that!" Sammy did have to give it to him though- he cared about his dog.

Teddy laughed, backing off the fence and looking up at Milo- as far up as he could look, anyway. Milo was shaped much like an egg, squat and oval-ly. "Yeah, like to see you try to climb over the fence to get me, fatass!" Teddy barked out, his laugh accompanying this.

Sammy felt her anger rising but fought it down- if Milo knew any of their names and they mouthed off, they'd get in trouble.

"Don't you call me that, you little tin-weasel peckerwood loony's son!" Milo cried vehemently, now as close to the fence as he could get.

_Oh God. Oh God oh God oh God oh God. Please say you didn't say that, please say you didn't say that..._Sammy chanted, remembering what had happened the last time that was said.

But sure enough, there it was- the stop of the teasing, the lilt out of his eyes, his tone suddenly flat and cold. Downright chilling. "What did you call me?" Teddy asked.

Sammy, in what she thought must have been a fit of madness, shot her hand down Teddy's forearm to grip his wrist, entwining her fingers in his. She knew what was coming, and loved Teddy for it. The pride.

"I know who you are. You're Teddy Duchamp. Your dad's a loony. A loony up in the nuthouse at Togus. He took your ear. And he put it to a stove. And he burnt it off," Milo about spit these little tidbits of information out, and everytime he ended a sentence, Sammy felt Teddy's hand tighten around hers.

Teddy had inched closer to the fence by now, and was a foot away from it, Sammy holding has hand but standing behind him, scared of his imminent reaction. And then it came, the first steely words, "My father stormed the beach at Normandy."

And for all Sammy knew he had, but glory, she just couldn't see it. How could a man who did such a noble thing as that burn his only son's ear off, and laugh when it made him cry?

And then, oh and _then_ that noble man Teddy admired so much had the audacity to kick Sammy out of Teddy's room where she was trying her best to keep his ear from falling off?

How could Teddy love his dad so much? Sammy would never know.

Milo was talking again, this time focusing solely on Teddy, "He's crazier than a shithouse rat. No wonder you're actin' in the way you are with a loony for a father."

Sammy moved quickly to Teddy's side, diagonal to him, reaching for his other hand, praying to God or whoever was up there to please, please help Teddy not to lose it. Please. "Teddy? Teddy, just forget him. Your dad stormed the beaches at Normandy! We both know, hell, the whole gang knows how noble he is, what a hero he is. Why does that bastard know? He doesn't know anything, Teddy. Please, please, please ignore him," Sammy was pleading at the end, putting her hand to his cheek, now gripping his wrist again.

Teddy averted his eyes from Sammy, stepping in front of her, dismissing her pleas without even realizing they were directed at him, so blinding was his fury. He shook his head incredibly slowly, "You call my dad a loony one more time and I'll kill you."

None of the gang thought he didn't mean it, and they seemed to know he was going to act on that threat quickly. Vern and Gordie came to Teddy's left, Chris joining Sammy on the right. The four of them seemed to stop breathing, waiting for Pressman's next words and Teddy's reaction.

Sammy closed her eyes as Pressman's leering voice came through the fence, "Loony loony loony!"

Teddy leaped, clawing at the fence, screaming, "I'm gonna rip your head off and shit down your neck!"

Teddy's foot collided with Sammy's wrist when Teddy broke free of her hold, and she bit back tears. _It was _not_ broken, it _couldn't_ be broken, dammit, it _wouldn't_ be broken_..." Sammy chanted this to herself as she joined forces with her brother, attempting to drag Teddy off the fence and away.

"You come on and try it you little slimy bastard!" Pressman goaded Teddy viciously, shaking the fence Teddy was so valiantly trying to get over. Or climb through.

Chris and Gordie yanked simultaneously at Teddy, pulling him off the fence far enough so Sammy to get in front of him, placing her hands on his shoulders and talking to him, murmuring things he wasn't even listening to, glancing fervently at Chris for help.

Chris came to the rescue with, "He wants you to go over there so he can beat the piss out of you then take you to the cops!" Earning a "What?!" look from Sammy. Chris shrugged his shoulders quickly, as if to say "Hey, I tried!"

"You watch your mouth, smart guy! Let him do his own fighting!" Pressman cried, as close to the fence as he could get.

"Sure, you only outweigh him by five hundred pounds, fatass!" Gordie spat at him, abandoning Chris and Sammy in order to distract Pressman from Teddy.

Sammy vaguely heard Pressman retort, "I know your name. You're Lachance! I know all you guys and all your fathers are gonna get a call from me!" But was focused on Teddy, hiding her fear and worry with scolding reassurance, acting oddly maternal.

Sammy barely had time to register Pressman's leering, "Except for the loony up in Tookus," before Teddy had broken Chris's hold to lunge at the fence, screaming, "Son of a bitch!" Teddy's glasses went flying, lying in the sand, temporarily forgotten by everyone except Sammy who leaped after them, scrabbling after the boys when they dragged Teddy away.


End file.
